Pedal extension and footrest attachment for pianos



May 1949 G. L. HOBBS,

PEDAL EXTENSION AND FOOTREST ATTACHMENT FOR PIANOS Flled Dec 29 1947 INVENTOR.

7 BY C gum/v5) I Patented May 3, 1949 UNITED STATES TENT OFFICE PEDAL EXTENSION AND FOOTREST ATTACHMENT FOR PIANOS 10 Claims.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in a pedal extension and foot rest attachment for pianos particularly adaptable for use by children just learning to play or persons of short stature whose legs are too short to reach the pedals.

Although there has been up to the present time numerous devices patented for the same purpose, yet there remains room for further improvement upon such articles by providing:

An attachment wherein the foot rest platform may be moved from the operative position used for childrens playing to an inoperatively held position whereby the piano pedals are rendered accessible for adult playing without having first to detach the device from its initially set position;

An attachment having a greater pedal extension range and a, greater ease for performing the range of adjustments;

An attachment wherein the foot rest and extension mounted pedals are cooperative-1y related to provide greater ease and comfort for the piano student while playing;

An attachment embodying a new mode of assembling;

An attachment having a peculiar shaped base whereby the device may be wedged beneath pianos whose bottom surfaces vary in height from the floor; and,

An attachment embodying a construction which is relatively simple, compact and durable.

Other objects, features and advantages of invention will hereinafter appear.

Referring to the drawing, wherein is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the complete device operatively associated with a pair of piano pedals dottedly indicated, a portion of the device being broken away to disclose interior construction.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. In this View is shown a fragment of a piano having a pedal operatively connected to the device.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view illustrating the manner in which the foot rest is supported adjustably upon the device.

Fig, 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary bottom perspective View of one of the extension pedals and its associated extension for operating a piano pedal.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the pedal operating extension and foot rest attachment comprises in general, a rectangularly shaped base 5 having forwardly projecting foot portions 6 and l at each side thereof; a pair of uprights 8 and 9 upstanding from said base with their outside faces flush with the side edges of the base; a top cross piece It bridging the space between said uprights; and an intermediate cross piece ll bridging the space between said uprights in a downwardly spaced relation to said top cross piece E0.

The top cross piece I ii is U-shaped in cross section with the mouth of the U directed downwardly and closed by a plate l2. Said plate is provided with a pair of guide openings i 3, one of which is shown in Fig. 1, and through these openings and into the space above adjustably extend the upper ends of the vertical pedal extension meinbers i l and i5, there being a pair of guide openings it in the cross piece similar to the openings it in the plate l2 through which an intermediate portion of the pedal extensions extend with a working fit.

pedal extensions essentially consist of one right and one left hand member each similarly constructed otherwise of strap metal and resembling an elongated U in shape except that the inmost flange of each U is longer than the opposite flange and instead of being deflected outwardly from its limb, as is the other flange, such inmost flange is reversely bent so as to not only bridge the space between the limbs of the U. but also completely underlie in an abutting manner the other flange, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. Thus these inmost flanges numbered l1 and #3 may be said to be by the width of the U longer than the flanges l9 and 20 which they respectively underlie.

In Fig. l the flange i1 is shown resting upon a dottedly indicated soft pedal 2! and the flange i8 is shown resting upon a dottedly indicated loud pedal 22. Upon the pedal extension i4 is adjustably mounted an auxiliary pedal 23; and upon the pedal extension I5 is adjustably mounted an auxiliary pedal 24. The means for mounting each pedal 23 and 24 to its respective extension is the same and only one will be described; that particular one being the means relating to pedal 28, since the latter is shown on an increased scale in Fig. 4-.

This means includes a broad U-shaped bracket 2 .5 which loosely embraces all but the front side of the extension l4 and the latter side is bridged by a pin 26 whose ends are journalled in the outer extremity of the limbs of the U bracket, the front edges of the limbs of the U-shaped brackets i l and it each being provided with a plurality of spaced downwardly and inwardly inclined slots 2! in which said pin selectively rests. Said means simulates a loop with straight runs.

Upon the pin 26 is swingably mounted the pedal 23 in such a manner that the heel portion 28 of the pedal is caused to underlie the bridge portion of the bracket 25 and rest thereagainst due to the counter-balancing effect of the toe portion 3d of the pedal. Said bracket 25 has its limbs purposely made long enough so that when it is manually operated to assume a horizontal position the pin 26 may be then slid out of its slot and the bracket moved along the extension to another selected slot when desired. Normally the toe portion 50 of the pedal 23 sustains the heel portion 28 against the lower edge of the bridge part 29 and the upper edge of such part in turn in contact with the edges of the limbs of the extension l l which are opposite the slotted edges so that when the toe portion of the pedal is depressed, through the medium of the pin 26, force will be transmitted to the pedal extension l4 causing it to slide in its guide slots 13 and I6 and depress the soft piano pedal 2|.

For the purpose of resting the students limbs while occupying a keyboard position at the piano, or for positioning the heel portion of the foot thereon while the toe portion contacts the pedals, there is provided a foot rest 3| which can be completely detached from the device or, if desired, moved from an operative childrens position to an inoperative position wherein the regular piano pedals are made accessible for adult playing. By adult playing I mean persons whose stature will permit their feet to reach the piano pedals without the present attachment.

Said foot rest 3! consists of a platform part 32 supported in a horizontal, forwardly spaced relation to the uprights 8 and 9 by means of two right angularly offset plates or strap metal parts 33 and 3 having their free ends connected to a rod 35 and such rod selectively occupying grooves 36 in the rear faces of the uprights, so that when it is desired to elevate the platform for rendering the regular piano pedals accessible for adult playing, the platform may be swung through an arc with the shaft 35 serving as an axis until the pin 3'! carried by the platform can be engaged by the hook 38 carried by the top crosspiece it.

The platform 32 is of a length equal to the distance between uprights and is held between the two supporting parts 33 and 34 which parallel each other to the point where they are offset, the thickness of the uprights being the measure of the offset so as to provide a shoulder 39 to rest against the front faces of the uprights and thereby support the platform horizontally. The remaining portion of the parts 33 and 33 which also parallel each other overlie in an abutting manner the outer faces of the uprights, such overlying portions being triangularly shaped to prevent wabbling of the platform in its mounted position.

The altitude side 40 of the triangular shaped portion 4! lies in a horizontal plane which is in an upwardly spaced relation to the plane in which the platform 1ies and the shouldered portion as connects with the base side 42 of the triangular part in a downwardly spaced relation to the side 42 thus making the distance between the axis of the rod and the top edge of the shouldered part 39 great enough that when the platform 32 is tilted upwardly to the point where the top edge of the shouldered part is parallel with the rod 35, the latter rod may be freed from one groove and caused to occupy another groove by moving the platform unit as a whole either upwardly or downwardly. The latter construction also permits the foot rest to be swung to its inoperative, inclined position.

The grooves 36 in the uprights and the notches in the extensions are so positioned that the pedal supporting pins 26 and platform supported rod can be varied to suit the comfort of the student playing by adjusting the platform relatively to the pedal auxiliaries or vice versa to provide the proper foot span.

What has already been said will be more clearly understood by referring to Fig. 2, wherein is shown a fragment of a piano 43 provided with loud and soft pedals, soft pedal 2| of which is shown with the attachment in the operative position for operating such pedal. In said view it will be seen also that due to the forward position of the platform 32 ample space is provided for clearance between it and the auxiliary pedals to permit of its swinging to the point where the hook 38 can be engaged with the eye 31 and when so elevated the platform will not interfere with the operation of the regular piano pedals. In said view it will be seen that the base 5 is provided with a rearwardly tapering to rear top surface which is wedgeable against the underside of the piano to hold the attachment in place. Since the castor length varies in different makes of pianos such taper compensates for such variation so that a wedging action can always be assured with any piano with which the device may be associated.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herein illustrated and described is but one example of the same and that various chan es as to shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the sub ject matter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a pedal extension and foot rest attachment for pianos, a base, a pair of uprights upstanding from said base in a parallel spaced apart relation, a cross piece uniting said uprights at their upper ends, said cross piece being U-shaped in cross section with the mouth of the U directed downwardly, an intermediate cross piece bridging the space between said uprights in a downwardly spaced relation to said U-shaped cross piece, each of said cross pieces having vertically alined openings in them, extensions adapted to rest upon piano pedals vertically slidable in said openings, and vertically adjustable means mounted upon said extensions for remotely operating said piano pedals.

2. The subject matter of claim 1 and, said extensions each comprising an elongated U-shaped member having their mouths directed downwardly and closed by a wing deflected from one of the limbs of each U member, said deflected wings each being secured to the other limb comprising the U member.

3. In a pedal extension and foot rest attachment for pianos, a base, a pair of uprights upstanding from said base in a parallel spaced apart relation, a cross piece uniting said uprights at their upper ends, said cross piece being U-shaped in cross section with the mouth of the U directed downwardly, an intermediate cross piece brid ing the space between said uprights in a downwardly spaced relation to said U-shaped cross piece, each of said cross pieces having vertically alined openings in them, extension members adapted to rest upon piano pedals vertically slidable in said openings, said extensions each comprising an elongated U-shaped member having their mouths directed downwardly and closed by a wing deflected from one of the limbs ofeach U member, said deflected wings each being secured to the other limb comprising the U member, a plurality of pairs of downwardly and inwardly directed spaced parallel slots in the front edges of the limbs of said U-shaped members, loops loosely embracing the latter members with a run of each loop resting in a pair of said slots, and a foot pedal pivotally mounted on each said run of each loop, each said foot pedal having a heel portion detachably underlying a second run of each loop which is opposite the first said 100p and counterbalanced by the toe portion of the foot pedal to retain said second run of each loop in an abutting relation with the edges of the limbs of each U which is opposite said slotted edges.

4. The subject matter of claim 3 and, said loops being of sufficient size so that the first said runs may be each detached from its pair of slots and selectively moved upwardly or downwardly on the extension which it embraces so as to occupy selectively other pairs of slots.

5. The subject matter of claim 1 and, a foot rest having a horizontal, forwardly spaced platform, said platform being mounted upon said uprights so as to be manually swung from a horizontal heel-supporting position whereby the toe portion of each foot can operate said vertically adjustable means to depress said extensions and in turn said piano pedals, to an inoperative inclined position wherein said piano pedals are rendered. available for manual depression apart from the use of said remote operating means without moving the attachment from its initially set position.

6. In a pedal extension and foot rest attachment for pianos, a base, a pair of uprights upstanding from said base in a parallel spaced apart relation, a cross piece uniting said uprights at their upper ends, said cross piece being U-shaped in cross section with the mouth of the U directed downwardly, an intermediate cross piece bridging the space between said uprights in a downwardly spaced relation to said U-shaped cross piece, each of said cross pieces having vertically alined openings in them, extension members adapted to rest upon piano pedals vertically slidable in said openings, vertically adjustable means mounted upon said extensions for remotely operating said piano pedals, a foot rest vertically slidable upon said uprights, said foot rest comprising a platform in a forwardly spaced relation to said vertically ad- J'ustable means whereon to rest the heel or" the foot while the toe portion thereof contacts such vertically adjustable means, said platform being movable from an operative horizontal position to an inoperative inclined position, and means carried by the upper cross piece and said platform and adapted to be operatively connected to hold said platform in its inclined position.

7. The subject matter of claim 6 and, said means comprising a pin and a hook engageable within the pin.

8. The subject matter of claim 6 and, means for supporting said platform as aforesaid, said means including a pair of horizontally disposed parallel arms attached to the side edges of said platform, said arms having their free ends joined by a rod selectively supported in vertically spaced, alined grooves formed in the rear faces of said uprights, said arms being offset in relation to their lengths whereby to provide a shoulder to abut against the face of each upright which is opposite its notched face to prevent tilting of the platform when said rod occupies a position within said alined grooves, said shoulders each being constructed in such a manner in relation to the rod supported end of the arms to permit swinging of the platform as Well as its vertical adjustment in relation to said grooves.

9. In a pedal extension and foot rest attachment for pianos, a base, a pair of uprights upstanding from said base in a parallel spaced apart relation, a cross piece uniting said uprights at their upper ends, a foot rest vertically slidable upon said uprights, said foot rest being movable from an operative horizontal positi n to an inoperative inclined position, means carried by said cross piece and said foot rest adapted to be detachably connected together to maintain said foot rest in its inclined position, and means for supporting said foot rest in its vertically adjusted position upon said uprights, said means comprising a pair of horizontally disposed parallel arms one end portion of which is attached to the side edges of said foot rest, said arms having their opposite end portions joined by a rod selectively supportable in vertically spaced, alined grooves formed in the rear faces of said uprights, said arms being offset in relation to their lengths thus to provide a shoulder to abut against the face of each upright which is opposite its grooved face, said shoulders each being constructed in such a manner in relation to the rod supported end of the arms to permit swinging of the foot rest as well as for providing for its vertical adjustment in relation to said grooves.

10. In a pedal extension and foot rest attachment for pianos, a base, a pair of uprights upstanding from said base in a parallel spaced apart relation, a cross piece uniting said uprights at their upper ends, a foot rest vertically slidable upon said uprights, said foot rest being movable from an operative horizontal position to an inoperative inclined position, means carried by said cross piece and said foot rest adapted to be detachably connected together to maintain said foot rest in its inclined position, and means for supporting said foot rest in its vertically adjusted position upon said uprights, said means comprising a pair of horizontally disposed parallel arms one end portion of which is attached to 7 the side edges of said foot rest, said arms having their opposite end portions joined by a rod selectively supportable in vertically spaced, alined grooves formed in the rear faces of said uprights, said arms being offset in relation to their lengths thus to provide a shoulder to abut against the face of each upright which is opposite its grooved face, said shoulders each being constructed in such a manner in relation to the rod supported end of the arms as to permit swinging of the foot rest to its inoperative, inclined position.

GEORGE L. HOBBS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 502,261 Almstead July 25, 1893 502,944 Zender Aug. 8, 1893 688,416 Hopphan Dec. 10, 1901 1,226,494 Fox May 15, 1917 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 847,769 France July 10, 1939 

